The letter did not lie still.
It pulsed on the ground like a heartbeat, glowing faintly in the absence of sky. When I reached for it, the symbol slid across the pavement, refusing my touch. A second symbol tore itself loose from nothingness and dropped beside it, shattering the hum into a sharp silence.
Together, they rearranged themselves.
"Wake."
I staggered back. People passed me without a glance, stepping over the glowing shapes as though they were invisible. A businessman's shoe landed squarely on the letters, yet they remained untouched, shining through the sole like light through smoke.
I was the only one who could see them.
"Wake…?" I whispered.
The word dissolved instantly, as though spoken aloud was enough to trigger it. The hum returned, louder now—so loud I thought my teeth might crack. My vision blurred, and for a moment the city flickered like a dying film reel.
The buildings bent sideways.
The cars dissolved into trails of ink.
The people… the people had no faces.
Only their masks remained: eyes painted on where eyes should be, smiles frozen too wide.
I dropped to my knees, clutching my head. "What the hell is happening!?"
A voice answered, but not from around me. It came from the letter itself, a sound that crawled into my skull:
"You were chosen last time. You failed. This is your second chance."
I tried to breathe, but the air felt heavy, liquid. Last time? I had no memory of any "last time." My entire life had been nothing but half-decisions, never daring, never choosing. What could I have possibly failed?
The sky flickered. For an instant, color threatened to return—deep red, the color of something raw and bleeding. Then it vanished again, leaving only blankness.
The letter pulsed once more. A final symbol formed at my feet:
"RUN."
And then, behind me, something began to move.